Wide Horizon by Michael T. Kuester

Author:Michael T. Kuester
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Michael T. Kuester Science Fiction
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

FOMALHAUT

Not far from the solar system, Fomalhaut sat at the center of a vast disk of dust and debris, lain across the system like a soft blanket of celestial pebbles. Twelve planets spun in its orbit, their passing heralded by a bow shock. Warmed by the diffuse light of their sun, surrounded with an endless supply of natural resources, they had been prime candidates for terraforming.

Once, Fomalhaut was a bastion of human technological might: three inhabited planets and seven additional moons, where massive industrial fabricators converted raw materials harvested from the dust belts into the finished goods that fueled human expansion across the cosmos.

Then the Others came. In one fell swoop, they erased the colonies of the Fomalhaut system, exterminating the human population, leaving nothing but smoldering ruin in their wake. When the war fleets had arrived in orbit of Fomalhaut V, the system boasted a population in the tens of billions. They left nothing alive, not one stone standing atop another.

Amid the devastation, the outer planets had largely been spared. Soft blue orbs of swirling gasses, they were frozen, lifeless, their moons dead balls of ice caught in their grasp. Deemed inconsequential, they had been ignored, and through the ignorance of the Others a small base had escaped their notice, buried beneath the ice on the twelfth planet’s third moon.

After a quick check with Sonders, Braylen found their destination: a tiny ball of ice and rock, orbiting at a comfortable distance from the mighty ice giant. Braylen carefully steered his vessel into a safe orbit around the moon.

“Well, here we are,” Braylen reported, as he dismissed the holographic flight controls and rose from his seat. “Sonders, what can you tell me? Any sign of the base?”

“None as yet, sir,” his sensor officer reported. “The surface is composed primarily of frozen nitrogen and carbon dioxide, with measurable amounts of water ice. Atmosphere is tenuous, nitrogen-based.”

“Doesn’t sound habitable to me,” Haris observed. “Are we sure our intel is correct?”

“I am detecting no sign of any base on the surface,” Sonders added, “no signs of habitation of any kind.”

“It has to be there,” Braylen insisted. “Keep scanning.”

Sonders did as he was ordered, but to no avail. Braylen grew frustrated. There had to be something here, he knew it. They hadn’t come all this way to leave empty handed.

“Try hailing,” Declan suggested.

“Sir?” Sonders replied, uncertain.

“Humor me,” Declan persisted.

Sonders looked at Braylen, who nodded, and did as he was told. To the amazement of all present, the hail was greeted immediately with an automated response. A strange symbol appeared across the main view: a stylized depiction of a bird in flight, surrounded by stars. The emblem was accompanied by a series of incomprehensible numbers and strange characters. Braylen studied them, believing it to be some sort of code, when a helpful voice chimed in unexpectedly.

“I recognize this,” Penance said quietly.

Everyone turned to her. “It is the sigil of the Concord of Pathfinders. The caption beneath is alpha-code,” she elaborated, “the language of my people.”

“It’s a language?” Daena inquired, incredulous.

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